Sometimes people have hidden gifts and talents that even they did not know they had.
That is the case for Peter Viersen.
Until recently, the 20-year-old Neerlandia native had no inkling that he had any latent abilities as an electrician.
Not only does he have these skills, it turns out that he is one of the most talented electricians in the province, as his recent performance at the Skill Canada Alberta competition on May 9-10 proves.
On May 10 at the Edmonton Expo Centre, Viersen took home the gold medal in the post-secondary electrical installation category after two days of competition.
Skills Canada is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to expose students to the trades as a potential career.
By winning gold, Viersen earned the right to compete at the national Skills Canada competition in Halifax on May 28-29.
Latent talents
After graduating from Covenant Canadian Reformed School in 2017, Viersen decided to take a year off from school before enrolling in NAIT’s laboratory and x-ray technology program.
“It wasn’t something I planned,” he said.
About a week before the end of his first semester in Grade 12, however, Viersen learned he was missing a prerequisite course, Chemistry 30, which he had planned to do in his semester.
Instead of trying to rearrange his second-semester timetable, Viersen decided to take chemistry 30 by correspondence while working.
Viersen’s first job was with Patrick Hooimeyer at Hooimeyer Electric in Neerlandia.
“I had zero trades experience going into it. My boss [Patrick] just needed manpower,” he said.
After about six months, Viersen moved on to Stalwart Electric.
Although he would go on to complete the course he was missing, Viersen decided to switch career paths and work towards becoming an electrician.
He ended up enrolled in NAIT’s electrician journeyman program and completed his first year of training about a month ago.
It was, in fact, one of his instructors at NAIT who encouraged him to enter the skills competition.
To get ready for the event, Viersen’s instructor at NAIT held weekly training sessions, going over the project that competitors had to complete at the previous year’s Skills Canada Alberta event.
“(Last year’s project) was actually pretty close to what we had to do,” he said.
Just prior to the start of the competition, on each day, participants were given a list of instructions on how to wire a three-walled room with no ceiling, complete with exact dimensions on how and where they needed to place each component.
Two-thirds of each wall was covered in plywood while the other third was a typical blank studded wall.
“Basically, we were given seven hours to get all our boxes hung and pipe run. Everything had to be within two millimetres or they started deducting marks,” Viersen said, noting he was able to complete everything in about three and a half hours.
On the second day, competitors were given six hours to run all the wiring.
“Half of it was residential where you had to hook up switches and plugs, while the other half was commercial where you are running pipe, hooking up a starter relay,” he said.
At the end of the competition, all the participants from all the trades, including high schools, waited in a large conference room for the winners to be announced.
Although Viersen said he was confident of the work he did, he didn’t know how it compared to his fellow competitors.
On the first day, because he completed his work so early, he had a chance to take a look at what some of his rivals were doing, albeit at a distance.
“These were definitely people who were very good at what they do,” he said.
As for how Viersen plans to prepare for the national Skills Canada competition, he said there isn’t too much he can do.
For the most part, he will be working right up to when he has to leave on May 25 to join the rest of Team Alberta before starting competition two days later.
From what he has been told, the format will mirror the provincial contest, with the exception that his rivals and the tasks he will be given will be more difficult.
Everyone also will be better prepared. Unlike the provincial contest, participants have been given a picture of what the room looks like with the work complete.
Viersen said he isn’t feeling very nervous, but “that might change as it gets closer. Right now I’m more excited than anything. I am looking forward to going to Halifax and getting to know my Alberta teammates and being able to take what I have learned and apply it to my job and for next year’s Skills Canada competition.
Viersen noted he has one more year of eligibility and he plans to take advantage of it.
